Sway
by gravitybarnes
Summary: ((AU)) Bad Girls Do it Well. Or, the one where Aria's an accidentalonpurposesortof liar and Emily's just along for the 'ride'.


"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," says Mona, the second after Emily sidles up behind her on the porch.

Aria smirks. "Nice to see you too, Mona."

"Are you insane?" She hisses, eyes ballooning in size "D'you _know_ who her father is?"

Distant laughter and slow Techno music drifts out of the open door, softly vibrating the house's foundation. Aria exhales through her nose. "Mona,"

Mona waves her hands around dramatically, cutting her off "Ohohoh or her _mother?_"

"_Mona_-"

"What about her grandparents?"

"Mona for god-"

"D'you have like some, crazy, death wish that I don't know about? Is that it?"

Aria rolls her eyes. "It's fine Professor Buzzkill," Mona frown-pouts at the nickname "and anyway - she wanted to come." Aria glances over her left shoulder "Didn't you Emily?"

"Yes." Emily says, in a voice completely devoid of emotion, eyes focused straight ahead.

"See? God I love 'em tall. Much more... compliant, y'know?" Aria says, ignoring Mona's look of disbelief.

"First you bring that Mayor's daughter to my B.P. last month.. and now _this_?!" Mona murmurs, flicking a hand toward Emily. She shakes her head. "God. You're gonna get us all killed one day, and you don't even care."

"Will you please just.. invite me in already.. ?"

Mona's shoulders twitch upwards then she folds her arms over her chest. "To be honest, I don't know if I should Roo," Aria sighs heavily, Emily lets go of her hand "You've got major suicidaltendencish vibes going on right now." She says, emphatically waving her hands in a loose S shape. "You're a danger to yourself and others."

Emily fits her chin over Aria's left shoulder, without being asked. Curves her arms around Aria's waist and squeezes. Aria melts into it. She can't see Emily's face but she can guess what it looks like from the slack jawed expression on Mona's.  
"Let us in," Emily purrs, a little life in her voice now.

".. Okay," Mona says dreamily then breaks eye contact, a small frown on her abruptly tired looking face. She sighs, standing up straighter then calls out the name "Hanna," over her shoulder. A girl— presumably Hanna —with pale skin, glazed sky blue eyes and a single black streak in her blonde hair, ambles over to the open door. Her focus glued solely on Mona, as if Mona'd personally hung the moon and stars for her.

"Yeah babe?"

"Invite Aria in for me, please."

Hanna turns to face Aria and Emily. Aria's eyes shoot straight to the puncture wounds on her neck (Maybe Mona will share this time, though it's unlikely, she's always been a stingy eater.) "Which one's Aria?"

"The short one." Aria gives Mona the finger and Hanna gives Aria a dimpled smile.

"Aria, won't you please come inside," Hanna intones, voice filled with subdued amusement.

Aria steps over the threshold. Emily follows, belatedly behind her.

* * *

When she starts to hear the screams, twenty minutes into the party, Aria doesn't flinch. Slouches further into the couch cushions instead, examining the edges of her dark hair for split ends. She only gets up when Emily yells "Aria! Help!" in that half exasperated half sugary sweet tone she loves to use to get her way. Sits back down again when she finishes off the vampires - and few human witnesses- in her designated section of the living room. The next time she gets back up, heart lodged in her throat, is when she realizes who Emily's attempting to finish off. Aria almost makes it up to Emily without being seen but then Emily locks eyes with her.

"Ahahah," She murmurs, right arm finally locking a pissed off looking Mona, in a chokehold. Her left hand— still clutching the stake —points disapprovingly at Aria "Staay." Aria freezes, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Good Girl."

"What're you doing?!"

Emily pants, attempts to plunge the stake into Mona's heart, misses "What does it look like I'm doing?" She deadpans, tries again, misses again. Mona bites her forearm, Emily winces— barely that —in response, clinging tighter.

"You said you wouldn't hurt her! You said whoever I say is off limits is _off limits! _Remember?!"

Emily shrugs nonchalantly, plunges the stake firmly into Mona's heart—Mona explodes into a pile of ash "I lied."

Aria begins to sob— wanting to rip out Emily's jugular, wanting to run away from it all, wanting to pick up Mona's ashes and put them somewhere safe, somewhere warm, somewhere peaceful —stays frozen in place.

"Okay," Emily says, her vaguely winded voice a distant thing. The sound of a piece of paper being unfolded, its soundtrack. "looks like the next name on the list is.. Hastings Comma Spencer. Let's go."

Aria doesn't move.

"Aria."

Aria's seven, braiding Mona's hair.

"Aria..."

Aria's thirteen, fiddling with the bracelet Mona gave her for her birthday mumbling that her current crush is "Spencer.. um Hastings", stomach tied in knots.

"_Aria_."

Aria's eighteen, freshly turned, sobbing into Mona's shoulder, sobbing through the unbearable ache in her throat.

"Aria!"

Aria's eighteen, forever, staring at a pile of her best friend's ashes. "I'm not going anywhere with you." Aria says, venom lacing her tone, eyes fixed on the place where Mona once stood.

"Aria, I don't have time to argue with you - let's _go_."

Aria shakes her head, tears continuing to fall down her cheeks.

"Ar-"

"NO!" She all but screams, glancing up at Emily reflexively. Then she realizes her mistake and squeezes her eyes shut before Emily's mouth can open. Aria's shoulders lock, body shaking in place, when she hears Emily step closer.  
And closer.  
And closer.  
She hears Emily sigh then hands, not her own, wipe her tears away. Bile rises up her throat immediately and its then that Emily kisses her. Aria gets as far as; Mona - in her thoughts and then there's nothing left but silence.

* * *

A thumb runs over her bottom lip. Aria opens her eyes. Comes face to face with a smiling Emily.  
Emily drops her hand and Aria's shoulders sag in disappointment.

"Aria,"

"Yes?" asks Aria.

"Will you please take me to Spencer Hastings house,"

Aria inhales. Or, tries to anyway—her nose is stuffed up. Maybe she's coming down with something, which would be kinda weird, Aria can't remember the last time she was sick as a vampire. Maybe as a human but not a vampire..or actually there was that one time with Mona...  
"I thought you were going to Alison's first.."

Emily shrugs "Change of plans."

Aria finally takes in their surroundings. Notices a girl with a single black streak in her hair lying a few feet away from them on the ground, her neck twisted at an awkward angle. Notices the Egyptian rug Mona texted her a picture of three days ago, lying bunched up on the floor.  
"Wait, where _are_ we?"

"Mona's."

Aria frowns briefly, her chest unconsciously tightening "And where is _she_?"

Emily shrugs again "She wasn't home." Aria opens her mouth to ask another question but Emily beats her to it "Now can you, please, take me to Spencer's?" She purrs, holding Aria's hands in her own.

Aria grins, the urge to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth, a soft bite to Emily's neck, filling her entire body. But for some reason she can't explain, she actively resists it. "Ok."

Emily kisses her cheek once, beaming. "Thank you." Then moves out of Aria's way, beckoning a sweeping arm forward "Lead on, Maestro."

Aria snorts— she kind of hates it when Emily calls her that but she's feeling generous today —an awkward half smile curving her lips, and then leads the way.  
Emily belatedly, follows after her.

**_FIN_**


End file.
